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An OrCam device scans text and plays it back as speech for the visually impaired. (screen capture: Youtube/OrcamTechnologies)

I am so proud to be a part of the Israeli startup ecosystem. It’s nearly impossible to truly keep up with all the innovations that come out of Israel, plus all the super success stories that reach unicorn status. I’ve previously written about the secret sauce of Israel’s success in the startup realm, and this applies in all industries.

The 2018 edition of the oh-so-awesome Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas gave many Israeli startups a chance to shine on the world stage, and boy did they! The team over at NoCamels already highlighted some of the most cutting-edge Israeli tech making waves at CES 2018, and there are a ton of good ones on that list that made the motherland proud.

In this post, I decided to give additional spotlight to the top five I personally found fascinating (and made me geek out,) all in the visual realm.

Syte.AI: Okay, I need to start this with a full disclosure, I do marketing for Syte, which is a visual search engine that helps retailers and publishers make their digital assets (images and videos) instantly shoppable. They created a chatbot that acts as a digital personal shopping assistant, and they’re also behind the quickest-to-implement visual search camera. I’m only allowed to say so much publicly at this point, but believe me when I say they nailed some really impressive meetings, and amazing things are in the works!

OrCam Technologies: Wow. This team developed a wearable device for the blind and visually impaired that pairs advanced technology with artificial vision. Their MyEye device is battery-operated, and attaches to glasses. It recognizes many things, such as basic hand gestures and printed/digital text, and reads it for the wearer. It is also able to identify faces and products in real-time. How amazing is that? It’s not for nothing that the company is valued at close to a billion big ones- they developed technology to give independence to the blind and visually impaired!

ICI Vision: Their homepage says it best. This company is breaking new ground by “expanding the limits of vision.” Their technology helps restore sight for the visually impaired with sight enhancement digital eyewear. It’s a pair of geek-chic-looking glasses that combines AI, computer vision, image processing, retinal projection, HD cameras, eye tracking algorithms, and more to improve visual perception of surroundings in real time. It projects optimized images directly onto the retina of the wearer. Are we living in the future or what?!?

Superb Reality: This team creates augmented, mixed, and virtual reality devices that allow users to interact with the virtual images they see before them using just their hands. No remote, no controller, no mouse- just hands. This totally excites the gamer-girl in me, because by using natural hand motions to play with this technology, you can’t help but feel even more immersed in it.

Fuse.it: This is a super cute app in which you can integrate yourself in hilarious videos next to different characters, performers, memes, fake news clips, and more. Yes, I admit I’m a young goofball at heart, and am very easy to entertain. If you’re even remotely into pop culture, you will totally love killing time with this app. Kids will love it too, it’s harmless. You may have already heard of this app, because they went viral for giving people the chance to dance with Donald Trump.

These aren’t the only startups from Israel that are tapping into visual elements, cause again- it’s so hard to keep up with all the innovations coming out of Israel! But yea, these are my favorites from CES. Let me know if I missed any!

About the Author

Farhana Rahman has been representing socially driven Israeli startups for over 5 years, and has been in the PR/Marketing industries for nearly 10 years. She currently works for Syte, a leading visual search engine based in Tel Aviv, as their Marketing Specialist.
Farhana always makes time to assist startups in an advisory role with initiatives surrounding product launches, marketing campaigns, and social strategy. Additionally, she finds enjoyment in giving presentations on those topics in company events and roundtables.
In the rare instances Farhana is not glued to her mobile devices, you will find her cooking gourmet feasts for her parents, playing mindless games with her brother, or running (Netflix) marathons with her husband.